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Add to SafariWhen comparing MusE vs Audacity, the Slant community recommends Audacity for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs for UNIX-like systems?” Audacity is ranked 6th while MusE is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose Audacity is:
Audacity is available for free on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux with source code available [here](http://audacityteam.org/download/source).
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Is JACK-compatible
And so it can not only use JACK for audio-output, JACK, Cadence and Carla can be used to build a DAW with almost unlimited capabilities. Of course, you need more than one project-file, you need a file for MusE and one for CARLA, but with the synths and effects you can wire in CARLA, this is no real Con.
Pro Intuitive
You don't need a manual for this, just play with it.
Pro Free, open source and cross-platform
Audacity is available for free on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux with source code available here.
Pro Well maintained
Audacity is constantly updated.
Pro Great community backing it
Pro Great for vocal track editing
Cons
Con Very many functions, can get confusing
It has not only midi-capabilities, there are digital-audio-caps, too. And mist can be used with Keyboard-shortcuts. Some may work, others don't, cause they may be used by other apps. Can get confusing.
Con Not seen as a full DAW
Audacity doesn't have the capabilities of popular DAWs and generally isn't considered to be good option.
Con Doesn't retain audio integrity
Audacity uses destructive editing, meaning applying effects, cutting, etc is non-reversable after you've saved a project.
Con No real time effects
Users are unable to change effects in real time with Audacity. If effects are to be changed, no sound can be playing or recording.
Con Unable to use Synthesizers / virtual instruments
You can only use effect plugins or record live with this DAW.
Con No native 64-bit version, therefore does not support 64-bit VST plugins
Audacity is available only as a 32-bit application, therefore even when running on 64-bit machines, it only supports 32-bit VST plugins unless they are converted to 32-bit using an application such as JBridge.
